The event began with the commencement speech by Vishal K.
Dev, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Odisha Tourism.

Dev said, “We are glad to have everyone here at the
festival. We want to promote and raise awareness about Chilika being the
largest repository of migratory birds in Asia. Our focus is to make Odisha as
one of the hotspots for Ecotourism. We plan to make this event bigger and
better in future.”

Suresh Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and
Environment said, “We are extremely happy to have participants from all over
the country. This year we have around 1 million migratory birds present in Chilika.
We are recognising the efforts by the locals in preserving Chilika Lake and want
to empower them by helping them with livelihood in form of sustainable tourism.”

“Every participant of the Chilika National Bird Festival is
an ambassador for this place and we hope the message spreads,” he added.

On this occasion, Chilika Development Authority also released its book ‘Fish and Shellfish Diversity and it’s Sustainable Management in Chilika Lake.’

Around 145 bird watchers from all over India are in
attendance for the event.

The National Chilika Bird Festival Award was awarded to
Mangalajodi Ecotourism Group for their active involvement in bird protection.

This year Chilika received record number of birds footfall
as a result of removal of illegal gheries from the lake by the Forest
department.

The event is jointly organised by Odisha Tourism, Forest and Environment Department and Chilika Development Authority.